‘Recycling’ – Fashion’s New Buzz Word

Posted in Daily Outfits, Fashion.

Fashion is full of buzzwords. ‘Oxblood’ (aka burgundy), ‘peplum’ (skirting at the waist), ‘colour blocking’ (wearing one colour), etc etc. Pithy terms like these catch like polyester at a bonfire in the fashion world, and we spend season after season referring to squiggly printed leggings as ‘tribal’. Sigh.

One buzzword that really riles me, however, is ‘recycling’. I can deal with the use of an exotic word to describe the colour of my high school uniform, but ‘recycle’ has a very real meaning. Here it is:

  • Re·cy·cle (verb) – convert (waste) into reusable material.
Recently, the word ‘recycle’ has been used to describe Kate Middleton’s outfits. See, the Duchess of Cambridge likes to wear her clothes more than once – a concept seemingly foreign to many women’s magazines. Kate doesn’t just wear things again – she recycles them.

fashion blogger ukuk fashion blogtop uk fashion blogs
Skirt, Warehouse | Jumper, Cos | Coat, French Connection | Boots, Bertie | Bag, Mulberry | Necklace, Tatty Devine | Belt, Forever 21 | Ring, Primark

Here I am in the Warehouse leather skirt I wore last week. I’ve actually worn it multiple times since I bought it, because I love it so. But am I recycling it? No. I’m just wearing it. Using it for the purpose it was bought for. Isn’t this something everyone, everywhere has been doing since the first neanderthal skinned a sabre tooth and fashioned its fur into a fetching two-piece?

daily outfit photo blog

What do you think – am I recycling or just re-wearing?

30 Comments

Emily Alice

I think it’s just one of those things – celebrities and people in the public eye are expected to never wear the same thing twice. Very wasteful but when Kate ignores this “rule” everyone seems to make a big fuss of it! Good for her 🙂

Reply
Anonymous

Ah this is something that really irritates me too! Apparently nobody should wear anything more than once these days. My bank balance could not cope if I bought a new outfit for every day.

Reply
Helen

I would hate to be famous and feel pressured into not wearing anything twice! Some clothes are so lovely they deserved to be worn all the time, not just once. That’s just wasteful! I just call it ‘wearing’, not recycling!

Reply
Kelly McLuckie

How would the media cope if she started to ‘reuse’ – the practice of wearing something for multiple purposes (ie: a scarf, a top, a skirt and a belt!).

Love that quirky moustache!

Reply
rachel

Oh the media can be so laughable at times. To recycle you’re clothing would insinuate that your clothes were waste, they only become a waste if you don’t get your moneys worth out of them, surely! That skirt is way too nice to only wear once! X

Reply
Kelly

It’s a very annoying term, and I don’t think unless you are wearing actual rubbish it applies to wearing an item more than once.
I like using my own term VPW (value per wear) If I get great VPW from an item then I feel proud if it’s cost slightly more than usual, and I’ve ‘used’ it lots. 🙂
x

Reply
Style Eyes

Agree, we should just wear our clothes. The term recycling implies that they almost become useless after one wear and it takes some sort of mamouth effort to manage to wear them again. I guess they may be making a big deal as she is royalty, perhaps they don’t think she should have to wear her clothes more than once! I never really got the whole ox blood thing, the name completely put me off the colour when I quite liked it before.

Reply
Anonymous

I always feel like you start writing a brilliant post and then stop, just as it is getting good! This was really interesting and then you just tailed off!

Reply
Jen

Ooooh Anon, interesting point! I try not to go on too long because I’m aware many people don’t like reading very long things online… but also, I don’t want to form a discussion and leave it halfway through!

Will take your points into consideration for my next discussion post. And if you have any thoughts on what else you think should’ve been covered here, I’d love to hear them! 🙂

Jen

Reply
beewaits

Fully agreed. I do like to find some clothes I haven’t worn in my wardrobe for ages and bring them back out and find a new love for them but not recyling them! Daft!
Also in love with the jacket x

Reply
onetenzeroseven

Oxblood!! Ugh, it’s burgundy for freak’s sake!! Lol.
I guess other terms make me cringe too, but in the fashion world I can see their appeal. However I completely agree with your anger at their definition of ‘recycling’. It’s completely ridiculous.

One of my favourite things to do is ‘shop’ from my own wardrobe. I have a vast collection of clothes, not because I buy in excess, more because I don’t throw things away. I can easily not wear something for years and then suddenly it feels like new again and it’s my favourite thing. Plus I love my clothes, I love the way they collect memories as I wear them, I love the way I can put them with a different piece of clothing each time and create endless outfits. I couldn’t bear to wear them once and throw them away.

Sophie | onetenzeroseven.com/blog

Reply
Lucy Loves To Blog

This made me laugh so much, I’ve never heard the word recycling used this way before, it’s so silly! I recycle stuff all the time, the boots I’m wearing have been recycled pretty much everyday since September, sometimes twice a day.

I love the outfit, the coat and jumper are great classics xx

Lucy Loves To Blog

Reply
Sophy Morgan

I tend to use ‘recycle’ when I recreate a whole outfit, exactly the same as I have worn before. And it tends to be for a night out or something similar where I’d usually wear something no one else has seen before.

But of course wearing an item twice is not recycling- its just normal wearing right? Hmm I suppose it’s different for celebs with such a massive disposable income!

Lovely outfit, I love your posts like this with a bit of an argument in them!

Reply
Cassandra

If I could not wear the same piece of clothing more than once, I would be skint! You buy clothes to wear again and again, because we love our clothes, so no it’s not recycling, it’s re-wearing. I totally agree with this post xx

Reply
Jenn Willetts

Value per wear kinda girl here too. Makes a bargain even more exciting x x
I LOVE your outfit. Have very simular boots (from RI). I have wanted a skirt like this for a long time (dress/skirt sort of girl) but have a VERY high waiste and big hips so not sure if it would suit????? Would love your thoughts

Reply
Lorraine F.

This is the kind of outfit I could wear too… Basic but with strong pieces ; )What an amazing combination!

I just discovered your blog and I love it ; )

Reply

Leave a comment